Brevard Is 3rd County On Alert For Encephalitis

COCOA — Brevard has become the third county in Florida to issue a medical alert warning residents that conditions are favorable for an outbreak of St. Louis encephalitis.

Health officials decided late Friday to place the county on alert, partly because of concerns that a Merritt Island woman may have contracted the mosquito-borne virus, said Dr. Heidar Heshmati, director of the Brevard County Health Department.

State test results are expected this week.

''It was a combination of things,'' Heshmati said, noting that similar alerts have been issued in Orange and Indian River counties, which border Brevard on the west and south.

Tentative test results on sentinel chickens in Brevard also indicate another chicken has tested positive for the virus, bringing the total to seven, Heshmati said.

''We just felt it was time for a medical alert,'' he said.

Brevard schools, hospitals and government agencies are being notified of the alert by mail, Heshmati said.

''This is not an emergency situation. We are just telling people to be very careful,'' he said.

An alert warns residents to take precautions including: staying indoors between dusk and dawn, using mosquito repellent, wearing long sleeves and long pants outdoors and emptying containers of stagnant water such as birdbaths and pet bowls.

It also puts doctors and hospitals on notice for signs of the disease.

Heshmati said health officials aren't recommending that schools cancel night activities, such as football games, but suggest they have fields sprayed before the games and take other precautions.

School officials said Saturday they had not been notified of the alert and they planned no changes in activities without health officials' recommendation.

Meanwhile, state officials ordered blood tests on the 65-year-old Merritt Island woman after she twice tested positive for the virus at a private lab.